Technical Amendment Passes First Hurdle

Yesterday, the House considered H.R. 6621, a bill to correct and improve certain provisions of the America Invents Act, under a suspension of the rules requiring a two-thirds majority vote for passage. The bill was passed 308-89.

Rep. Rohrabacher spoke out against the GATT study aspect of the Bill (requiring information on the remaining “submarine patents” pending at the USPTO), which might explain the surprising opposition to such an otherwise politically insignificant legislative initiative. Seems Rep. Rohrabacher was concerned about the study revealing information on these otherwise “secret” applications.

In any event, the Bill now heads to the Senate, greatly increasing the odds that it will be passed and enacted in the near term.